St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1887-07-09
CURRENT TOPICS.

The Queens Jubilee has been celebrated
with great pomp and magnifcence in
London. The splendor of the pageant of
royalty does not, however, hide the signs
of its decay. The events of the half cen
tury now celebrated are full of warnings
to the sprigs of royalty who gathered in
Westminster Abbey this week that the
time is approaching when the English
nation will dispense with their elegant
services. If the past fifty years of Eng
lish political history have brought any
fact into prominence, it is that the Eng
lish masses are rapidly concluding that
they are able to govern the United
Kingdom. The progress of democratic
principles on British soil has been
marvellous. The reform act of 1882
followed by those of 1867 and 1884, by
extending and simplifying the franchise,
probably did more to bring this about
than any other measures; and indeed the
effects are only just beginning to be felt.
Not since the reign of Queen Anne has
the crown been known to veto an act of
Parliament, and an attempt at such
thing in our own time would be worse
than suicidal What prerogatives the
crown still retains, such as the right to
| create peers, sign acts, dissolve and pro-
rogue Parliament, are now exercised at
the bidding of the prime minister.
Early in the century the Lords
were inclined to be ameddlesome occa-
sionally, but the Duke of Wellington
saw the futility of this after the corn law
crisis of 1916; and now that the prime
minister has the power to swamp the
house by the appointment of new peers
in case they oppose his will, they
are no longer obstreperous. In fact,
they seem to have become disgusted
at their debility and pay little attention
to their duties as legislators. A quorum
in the Lords is three, and witty car
toonist represented busy day by placing
the chancellor asleep on the woolsack,
with hat on one bench and an umbrella
on the other. The real political power,
then, rests in the prime minister and the
Commons, whose power proceeds from
the people. The house of Hanover may
we'll rejoice in the present jubilee, for it
may never see another.
~
The philosophy of evolution saturates
modern thought, and the idea that there
is any danger to religion to be feared
from it is fast disappearing. There is,
however, an obvious conflict between it
and some of the conceptions of theologi-
cal systems handed down from the past.
A process of accommodation is going on
which has taken for itself the name of
Progressive Orthodoxy" but so far
theology is the department of knowledge
in which the reconstructive influences
have had least effect. 1t was probably
in consideration of this that Lord Gift
ford, a Scotch judge who died recently,
was led to make one of the most remark
able wills ever penned. He has devised
100000, in various proportions, to the
four Scottish universities, to be devoted
to the foundation of lectureships for
promoting 1.-The study of natural the
ology in the widest sense of the term;
in other words, the knowledge Of God,
the Infinite, the All, the First and Only
Cause, the One and the Sole Substance,
the Sole Being, the Sole Reality, and the
Sole Existence, the knowledge of his
nature and attributes, the knowledge of
the relations which men and the whole
<1 ha Hpn LODI Of
the nature and foundation of ethics or
morals, and of all obligations and du-
ties thence arising;'' having long "been
deeply and firmly convinced that such
knowledge is the means of mans highest
well-being and the security of his up
ward progress" "The lecturers ap-
pointed shall be subject to no test of
any kind, and shall not be required to
take any oath, or to emit or subscribe
any declaration of belief, or to make
any promise of any kind"
~
One of the biggest collapses since the
Grant-Ward affair was the failure OF
the Fidelity Bank of Cincinnati The
funds of the bank were employed to
sustain the wheat corner, and with the
collapse of that gambling adventure it's
assets disappeared. The wreck is now
in the hands of the comptroller Of the
currency, and several of the bank
officials are under arrest charged with
malversation of trust funds. E. L.
Harper, who wrecked the Fidelity, is de-
scribed as another Napoleon of finance,
who, like Ward, fourished luxuriantly
for a season and then suddenly shriveled
up. He is but thirty-six years OF age.
~
The condition of the German Crown
Prince, better known as "Unser Fritz"
who is suffering from an affection of the
throat, naturally causes grave concern in
Europe. In the event Of his death,
which would likely be speedily followed
by that of the venerable Kaiser, the
young heir presumptive would succeed
to the imperial throne. He is dashing
young soldier, but, OF course, has not